US says Israel has agreed to humanitarian pauses in Gaza

Israel has agreed to daily humanitarian pauses in the northern Gaza Strip. This was stated by White House spokesman John Kirby.

According to Kirby, the pauses will last for four hours, they will be warned about three hours before they start. During the pauses, two humanitarian corridors will operate, which will allow civilians to move to the south of the sector.

"The Israelis have told us that there will be no military operations in these areas during the pause, and that this process begins today," Kirby said.

Israel made the decision to start humanitarian pauses after consultations with the United States, including after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's conversation with President Joe Biden, Kirby said.

Netanyahu's office, in turn, said that humanitarian corridors from the north to the south of the Gaza Strip began working on Sunday, November 5 — they open for several hours every day. According to the IDF, only on November 8, 50 thousand people used them.

The Times of Israel notes that Netanyahu's office does not officially use the phrase "humanitarian pauses" (only "humanitarian corridors") and insists that there will be no cease-fire until the release of hostages in the hands of Hamas.

Since the beginning of the war in the Gaza Strip, according to the Hamas—controlled Ministry of Health, 10,812 people have been killed, about 40% of them are said to be children. The UN and other international organizations believe that, in general, these data are trustworthy.